Thanks so much for a great in-depth "real world" review, Fitz. I am sorry you feel a regret for indulging your "early adoption fever." It still looks to be a great unit and I am sure 6 months from now, Olive's software willl have made vast improvements. Upon further research of my own dilemma, and based largely on your assessment of the Olive, I am leaning towards the following combination of components as a starting point;
1. Source; My existing 1TB external drive, backed up by a second 1TB drive for additional cost of $100.
2. Squeezebox Duet, modified by Bolder to be my budget high-end DAC substitute, for $650 (From all I have heard and read, it seems that one needs to spend a minimum of $2500 retail on a DAC to experience sonic performance above that of a Bolder-modded Duet)
3. High quality 250wpc integrated amplifier with home theatre bypass (such as the Musical Fidelity A1008) that sports a better analogue stage than my Integra DHC 9.9). I can get one pre-owned for $2500. This would replace my beautiful McCormack DNA-225 for which I could get $2000, so net additional cost here; $500
4. Integra DHC 9.9 - kept purely for my home theatre needs
Total cost here: $1250
BUT......if I wanted to spend another $750 - $1000 using ALL the funds in my budget...How do I get the best bang? Keeping all other things equal, do I;
a) Scrap the external drive as my source and get a quiet, low-jitter 2TB tower built? ($750)
b) Scrap the Squeezebox idea and get a serious DAC? (like the Ayre QB-9 @ $2500) But that adds $1850 putting me over budget. Amazing DAC though...
c) Keep the McCormack, ditch the integrated amp idea (which gives me an additional $500 to play with), and find a nice used preamp or preamp/DAC with HT bypass and superior analogue stage at around the $1250- $1500 mark? Thinking Bel Canto DAC3 or something in that league...
Any and all ideas would be welcome! I do want to spend the extra dough so help me out here fellas!